It isn't fair. As in why do bad things happen to good people? You may remember the book of the same title from Rabbi Harold Kushner. In reading the Platform Sutra I am struck by the emphatic nature of moment as a cloud of potential. That is each moment comes into play through billions of possibilities each of which had a chain of cause and effect that delivers IT based on the conditions of the current time and place. For some the existential why options are explored-fate or God's will or even the misunderstanding of karma.

How did IT come to THIS? I wonder if REALLY knowing why helps? Some years back I read about a mother whose child was killed, run over by a car while chasing a ball. I cannot imagine her pain. The article went on to say how she was surrounded by love which helped her face the pain. Even more remarkable was her response to people saying it was God's Will. Her reply was to say how much she loved and will miss her child, and that the causes and effects leading to death may be analyzed and help others possibly in a prevented way. However she could not imagine assessing the Will of God for Good and Bad events happening trillions of times a day.

It isn't fair is the lament we all cry out when pain is unbearable. The answer comes back to us in two waves. The first is that IT is correct life is neither fair nor unfair, which hurts even more. The second is that we take another breath and another reaching out accepting loving kindness as best we can. This acknowledgement is that whether fair or not It happened. Should we then say IT IS FAIR that people love us, care for us, and help us, that we can receive out pouring of compassion and kindness? That, in the worst hell we've faced in our life their are those who willing descend into IT with us just to hold our hand...

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Dharma Talk for Tuesday August 29, 2017 is "FAIR "

As continued outreach in the Falmouth community, I will be working on a "Connectivity and Relationships" as a central feature of a group discussion fellowship on remaining sober and not using, as a path to address alcohol and drug abuse. More about this as it unfolds...

Please Add to your Calendar:

BUDDHISM BOOK BUNCH September 24th from 6:30-8:00 at 41 Carol Avenue in East Falmouth. Gassho~Koin-ni (Sue)

On Saturday November 4, 2017 will:

• Have a Zazenkai from 6:30 AM until 11:00PM

• 11:00-11:45 we will prepare for three FSZS members to take Jukai or Precepts

• 12:00 Jukai conducted by Taiun-Roshi, via Skype from Atlanta

• 12:45 Lunch and Celebration of the 7th anniversary of the founding of FSZS

DATES SENSEI IS AWAY: Sangha Services will be lead by different members who have taken Jukai.

In November I will be away on a 30 day Priest's Ango or teaching sesshin, but will Skype in Dharma Talks...

November 7, 14, 21 and 28

December 5

Our Beach sitting on the Bike-Path at Oyster Pond and Surf Drive has begun, from 6:30AM until 7:00AM then we all go to PIE-IN-THE SKY in Woods Hole for coffee.

1. Like String for Beads, is a compilation of my Dharma talks, notes, poems and Facebook comments I have produced over the last five years. Special thanks to Enjitsu-san Chris Charyk for pulling the pieces together in this book! There will be copies available every Tuesday night, or let me know if you want me to mail you a copy. The book is $15 per copy.

2. Visit our new library named for Diane “Yugen” Tucker. The cart was a donation to the Sangha by Kyoshin Elin Kinney as Dana for her Jukai on November 5, 2016…many bows! The books will be added over the next few weeks and Kyoshin-ni has agreed to be our Librarian. A donation of $1 is recommend to check out books and magazines for up to three weeks. It really is a cute cart drop-by and see it soon. Oh, we wheel it out each Tuesdays and for zazenkai and sesshin, or if you would like to see if we have a book you want, get in touch with Elin <elinkinney@gmail.com>.

3. Meditation is also held each TUESDAY at 10:00AM at the Falmouth Senior Center.

4. Last night the Buddhist Book Bunch met and finished discussing Being Upright which we found to be practical and inspirational. Look for a copy in our rolling yellow library. (Thanks Phil!) At the meeting, Sensei announced our summer book. Remember that the Falmouth Soto Zen Buddhist Book Bunch does not hold meetings from June to August and we will resume our monthly meetings in September.

5. Over the summer, we invite you to read, The Fruitful Darkness by Joan Halifax. Grove Press describes the book published originally in 1993 as: Buddhist teacher and anthropologist Joan Halifax Roshi delves into "the fruitful darkness” --the shadow side of being, found in the root truths of Native religions, the fecundity of nature, and the stillness of meditation. In this highly personal and insightful odyssey of the heart and mind, she encounters Tibetan Buddhist meditators, Mexican shamans, and Native American elders, among others. In rapt prose, she recounts her explorations--from Japanese Zen meditation to hallucinogenic plants, from the Dogon people of Mali to the Mayan rain forest, all the while creating "an adventure of the spirit and a feast of wisdom old and new” (Peter Matthiessen). Halifax believes that deep ecology (which attempts to fuse environmental awareness with spiritual values) works in tandem with Buddhism and shamanism to discover "the interconnectedness of all life,” and to regain life’s sacredness.We will discuss The Fruitful Darkness at our meeting on September 24th from 6:30-8:00 at 41 Carol Avenue in East Falmouth.Gassho~Koin-ni (Sue)

6. Our Zendo is open at 6:30PM (good time for newcomers to get aquatinted) at the UUFF, 840 Sandwich Road, for our weekly service which starts at 7:00PM. Also feel free to stay afterwards to chat and or ask questions...